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The Beauty of Rome

One thing you can always say about Rome is its beauty. It is a beautiful city, old and new, historic and yet still vibrant, with all of these strands woven together in a complex tapestry.

I especially love the way the light filters down into the narrow, winding streets, reflecting off the ochre walls of homes that are centuries old.

Next to the Colosseum is a little triangle of grass, sandwiched between it, the Forum, and a busy main street. It has beautiful views, and its fir trees, umbrella pines and oleander make it a beautiful, restful spot as well, and oasis in the chaos that midday Rome becomes.

All sorts of people take advantage of this oasis and od Rome. Here, some homeless men sleep in relative safety and comfort. What am I to think? I am sorry that they are homeless, but glad that they can find a place to sleep. I am glad that in the complexity of Rome there is a place for them, that the police do not hustle them away out of sight to "somewhere else" so that they are someone else's problem, but I wish that the place that Rome makes for them included a roof and four walls.

I offer these scenes, therefore, for its beauty and ambiguity.

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